Relationships between laterality of congenital upper limb reduction defects and school performance

Eighty children (34 males, 46 females) with congenital upper limb reduction defects who attended a regional amputee clinic between 1956 and 1986 were classified as to whether they exhibited learning difficulties in school, as indicated by grade failure or by placement in learning disability classrooms. Children with right-sided defects were more likely to encounter learning difficulties than were children with left-sided defects (Chi-square = 6.8; df = 1; p less than 0.01). Children with right-limb defects also were more likely than children with left-limb defects to experience reading problems (Chi-square = 5.9; df = 1; p less than 0.05). These results suggest the need for neuropsychological and neurophysiological study of children with limb reduction defects.